Artemis Fowl: Opal's Last Stand
by artymon
Summary: Right. My idea of what AF7 might be. I hope the real one's waaaaaaaay better, cuz this ones not very good. I originally posted this on another AF site, but decided to launch it here also.


Artemis Fowl:

Artemis Fowl:

Opal's Last Stand

Note: **NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE MINE** (well unless I made up a character in here but I'm not claiming responsibility for it)**!! **Not trying to steal them or anything just an emergency fiction.

Ireland, during the winter was anything, but comfortable. The winds blew their bitter arguments across the magical country bringing along snow, sleet, hail, and otherunpleasantries.

Though it was the only the ninth day into January, winter was yet from over. Indeed, behind the walls of the Fowl Manor some of the chill seeped through, making it self known to one individual in particular.

_I wish Holly could have come, _he thought rather gloomily, as he blew out his cake candles. _I mean, I usually can see everyone here at almost anytime anyway. _That wasn't the only reason he wanted to see her again, they hadn't talked, by phone or other wise, since she had told him that Opal had escaped.

"Yay!!"

Artemis jumped slightly he'd almost forgotten where he was. He shook his head. Had to keep a right head it would not do good to have the host "spacing out" as some of the local schools were so fond of saying.

"So whaddya wish for Art?" A fellow acquaintance/school member from St. Bartlby's whom Artemis believed to be called Jason.

He allowed himself a trademark smile and answered, "If I told you wouldn't that defeat the purpose?"

The others, familiar with Jason's nosiness, roared with laughter. After several choruses of "Happy Birthday," Artemis managed to get away from the main tumult down below and entered his study on the seconded landing. He took a seat in the chair by the bay window that offered a view of the sea. It helped him think looking at the sea rising up in lazy waves, then crashing down, just to repeat it all over again.

It had been several months since the paradox incident had occurred, several months since Opal escaped several months after Holly had kissed him…

He had been thinking much since then. Most of which contained what Opal might be doing, where she was, had the LEP been able to find her, mostly trivial matters like that. The biggest thing that nagged at him the most was: what were he and Holly?

Before going the eight years into past, Artemis had come to know her as one of his closest friends. After she had kissed him he felt a…void inside him. An empty space of sorts. Naturally, Artemis had first disqualified this as hormones, but he had gotten a tight check on those to keep from future interference. As their mission went along, he began to solve the problem. Holly had kissed him that showed him she must have liked him. Then, he asked himself: do I like her? And as he thought of it, he found himself answering: yes, I do. However, after he admitted his deception to her, he wasn't sure where they stood…

She had said she forgave him, but he couldn't see how. He knew he didn't deserve an apology or forgiveness. But the hole still existed. He knew why it would never work. That tore him up the most.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Artemis jerked back from the window swiveling in his chair, _speak of the devil_, he thought to himself.

Sure enough on the opposite direction of the bay window, stood Holly, traces of her shield fizzling out.

"Holly! It's good to see you again."

"You too, Artemis."

"So, have you gotten any leeds on Opal?" He had found it very odd, indeed, when he heard of her escape.

"Unfortunately, no but Trouble took your suggestions to heart."

"Ah."

Of course, he'd offered his opinions of some precautions that should be taken, including putting up a guard team around N°1 and Jayjay, the lemur.

"You must have been bored since our last adventure."

"How so?" Artemis was slightly amused at this.

"Well, you haven't been _challenging your mind_ as you once said," Holly answered.

Artemis gave a small chuckle. "Ah, you know me to well at times."

_Not well enough at times_, Holly thought thinking back to the start (or was it the end?) of their paradox quandary, when he had lied to her.

She knew why, of course, and that he had good reason and if the tables were turned, she probably would have done the same thing. But that didn't make it right. There was one thing nagging at her brain, though. Artemis knew her too well and they had, in fact, predicted each other's moves early on. So, perhaps he knew she wouldn't have agreed to help him if he'd just out right asked her for her assistance. Which, in effect, could make _her _look like the "bad guy." These thoughts had haunted her since she found out Artemis lied to her. _Lied_ to her. Just when they were almost--

"Holly? Holly?" Holly mentally snapped away from her thoughts and turned to Artemis.

"Huh?"

"You just sort of spaced out on me I was just saying-"

"Why did you lie to me?" Holly demanded

Artemis knew this would come up at some point. He swallowed and said, "I-I wanted to be sure that you would help me."

Holly gave a frowned. "And you didn't think I would help you?"

This was it the moment of truth.

Artemis breathed deeply. "No," he admitted, hanging his head, "I had calculated that there was a 95 chance of you not helping me and proceeding to detain N°1 from helping me. I wasn't willing to risk my mother's life with a 5 chance, going on faith."

"So you figured it would be alright to just blackmail your friend into helping you."

Artemis would have snorted, but he knew now was not the time.

"No!" he voiced this slightly louder than he would have preferred, "It tore me up as we went along especially after…"

"After what?" Holly asked, though she knew too well what.

"After I knew that you would figure it out and your conflicting adolescence emotions would take it too harshly." He finished this rather lamely and they both knew the other could see through it.

Holly decided to poke a hole into his story in an attempt to see if she was right.

"Hmm," she snorted, "That didn't seem to stop you at Tara."

"No."

"Then what made you change your mind?" She knew she was getting close.

"I had never intended to not tell you, just not then."

"Which brings me back to the original question: what made you change your mind?"

He looked up at her straight in the eyes. One blue, the other hazel. Hers.

"When I realized I-"

"Oh, never mind!" She'd heard enough. "Listen, I've got to get going I've already been gone a little while for just completing the Ritual." She headed over to the large bay window.

"Oh, alright, good luck with Opal," he said, helping her un-latch the window.

"Sure," Holly replied, hopping out the window, dropping a few feet before her wings started.

"I'll call you later!" Artemis called after her.

He remembered a blurred patch of stars appear to twist around and give a thumbs up. He sat back down, somewhat more confused about him and Holly. She almost seemed to know what he was going to say when-

"How touching."

**Chapter 2**

Artemis stiffened slightly. He knew who that voice belonged to. Before turning to face his adversary, he inserted two contact lenses with a mirrored coating. These were not, of course, the same he had used after the C Cube catastrophe, but an improved version that would not corrode for a long time.

Next, he sealed the fairy sonix earplugs to shield himself twice over from any attempt Opal made to _mesmerize_ him. The earplugs wouldn't allow him to hear what she was saying but he could lip-read. Though they weren't necessary, it was always good to be prepared, his second motto.

Last, he activated a miniature camera disguised as a jacket button, and turned to face his arch-foe. Artemis couldn't help but think:_ why does she always come after me? Maybe it's __la forza del destino__: the force of destiny that we must battle in an everlasting war._

"Opal Koboi," he breathed, turning around "It seems we meet a second time."

Opal, for indeed it was her, contorted her face in a scowl. "Not just the 'second time' for you. You and my present counter-part apparently have done battle several times in the past."

Artemis gave a grim smile; it was, after all, exactly what he would do: conduct a search and see what had happened. "And, if memory serves, I was the victor on all three of my previous encounters with you."

Opal's rage increased "You only beat me twice, Fowl!! Last time, you just piled some rocks on me!"

"That may be, but why, pray tell, should you be able to extract your revenge now?" _Wait for it_, he thought, _don't give more than you have to. Let her tip her hand_.

Author's note: when one is tipping their hand, it means they're giving away important pieces of their plan. Just for those of you who didn't know.

"With my present knowledge, I shall crush you like the foul piece of dirt you are!!"

_Hmm, doesn't tell me much more than I already know. _Artemis had an idea of why she might be here. "Then, why aren't I an elaborate pattern in this carpet right now?" _Should give me the final bit._

"I need something." Was all she said.

_Well, I figured that out_, he thought sardonically. On his face he put a frown on his face. _Don't need to give _her _any hints._

"And that would be?" He asked making a circular motion with his hand to project an image of cluelessness.

"A carton of plutonium in the pu IV oxidation state." She said this as casually as one would ask for a candy bar from a convenience store.

Artemis _nearly_ laughed. _Nearly._

"And what do you need with a carton of oxidized pu IV?"

"I have my reasons." She said simply.

"Further more," he continued, "why should _I _give _you_ plutonium? I thought you wanted to take over the world not destroy it."

Opal sneered at him "Who said you had a choice?" She screwed up her eyes, drew up her augmented magic and opened her eyes, both a hypnotic brown. "Human," she chanted, in what Artemis imagined, a layered voice of magic, "your will is mine."

Safe, again, from a _mesmer_ attack behind his mirrored contacts, he allowed a smile "I think not. Obviously, you must have just read files about me that pertained to you and, in your haste, skipped the rest."

Opal's teeth were bared "Oh, you're a smart one all right wearing a lens of some sort to deflect eye-contact. But, are you smart enough to do the right thing?"

Artemis was slightly taken aback by this. "What do you mean?"

"My magic is more powerful than any other creature including the demon warlocks,"- _I doubt that._ Artemis thought.-"and one of my powers is to read minds, I know you'll do this for me."

_What was I thinking?_ Artemis hadn't a clue which thought Opal was talking about and doubted her story a bit, truth be told. _Well, I guess there's only one way to find out._ He said one word. "Why?"

Opal's face curled into a malicious smile. "You value a life other than your own. Do this and that person lives, don't and that person dies. Slowly and painfully. Can you catch my drift?"

Artemis paled internally but wore a smile on his face. "And who would this mystery man be?" He attempted a slight chuckle.

"Oh I wouldn't say she's a man," Opal replied, eyes agleam with a light one might use to tell a joke with, "after all, Captain Holly Short usually is discriminated by her gender. Get me my plutonium, or Short dies."

**Ireland Airspace**

At this moment, Captain Holly Short was flying in lazy circles back to the shuttle port concentrating on anything but what happened at Artemis's house.

Try as she might, one thought kept seeping back in her mind, _He loves me_. True, he hadn't said it, but Holly knew. She had seen it in his eyes.

When she had kissed Artemis Rathdown Park, she had assumed that her adolescence had simply acted on impulsiveness. But, as she had more and more thought about it, she realized their must have been some attraction to do anything so rash.

While it was true that fairies had been thought to be related to humans, it would be unheard of to have a relationship with a mud man.

Holly shook these thoughts from her head, as she landed at the shuttle port, not having anything more to do on the surface; Holly figured she would check in on Mulch and Doodah's latest case, before turning over to the mountain of paperwork that awaited her.

Flying the pod, or indeed any craft, helped her think. Of course, if she got too distracted, Holly might just veer into a chute wall. But, as fate would have it, she wouldn't smash into the rocky walls. Instead, Holly would have a normal landing and she would proceed to Mulch and Doodah's PI firm (not that they referred to themselves as PI's).

"Well, look who just graced us with her presence!" Mulch exclaimed in mock faint.

"'Well' is a deep subject." Was Holly's response, subsequently punching Mulch on his arm.

"The only thing we're deep in," Doodah said, speaking for the first time, "is babysitting duty."

Mulch and Doodah had recently, and somewhat reluctantly, taken a client who was paranoid that one of his grandchildren were trying to kill him for his vast reserves of gold-riddled mines Mulch and Doodah were certain the guy was just being unreasonable. But, as Mulch said, it paid the bills. So far, there efforts had been wasted. Though, Holly had eased their efforts by passing them surveillance equipment deemed primitive by Foaly.

"I take it," the elfin captain began, "Mr. BoRegard's status is the same."

Doodah gave a slight snort at this military jargon, but Mulch, who was familiar with it said, "See for your self." He accompanied this by pointing at a view screen. On it, shown an elderly dwarf, in a lone dinning room by a window with a large decorative curtain swept to one side, eating what Holly guessed was dinner; though, there was enough food there for a small party. _If one of his kids doesn't get him_, she thought, _his eating habits will_. She was just looking away, she'd just given the screen a glance, when she saw a sudden movement from the curtain she rewound the tape a few seconds ago and enhanced the image.

"Mulch, Doodah take a look at this!" Holly called out pointing at a pixilated face.

Doodah and Mulch jumped over. "What is it?" Doodah asked. Without waiting for a response, he peered where Holly's finger was pointing. "Oh Gods," he moaned, "I don't believe it."

"Me neither." Mulch said, in equal enthusiasm with Doodah. On the screen, it showed the face of a dwarf shuffling out from the large red curtain behind BoRegard, then back in.

"Looks like baby-sittings over." Holly said eyes flushed with the thought of adventure, however small.

**Fowl Manor**

Artemis sat in the lotus position combing his brain for a plan. He couldn't endanger Holly's life, or anyone else's. Yet, he couldn't let a maniac like Opal go run around loose with some plutonium. _What does she need it for?_ This was the main thing to figure out; she had dropped some hints about going back to her time. But, Artemis knew this wasn't how sequence of events happened. Albeit, she did try to kill him and Holly several times, but wasn't successful. Opal knew this too, so according to Gorben and Berndt's Law this was not what she planned to do.

_What other use would it have to her?_ He couldn't think of any other than perhaps busting herself out, though a nuclear explosion would free the present Opal, it could very well kill her too.

"What if it's channeled?" Artemis asked to no one in particular. "Possibly; maybe it's the means of getting it and not how it's used. Oxidized pu IV isn't something you just walk into a drug store to find."

On an internet search to some rather unorthodox sites, he found not a trace of _that_ particular plutonium anywhere.

Except…

Except in an LEP site. It had been mention on an LEP military site that a case of oxidized pu IV plutonium was going to be transported. It seems a little _too_ convenient that that Opal Koboi shows up and demands an item that the _only_ shipment just happens to be in the most secure facility above or below the earth.

The odds of Artemis pulling off a feat like that are slim, though he does pride himself on achieving the impossible. Still, it was unlikely that Artemis could snatch Opal's plutonium. Why? Why, would Opal stake her chances of an imperative piece to her plan on chance? Artemis wouldn't. Unless…

Unless, it was part of the plan. Unless, Opal wanted to get Artemis out of the way by having him get caught and locked up in a secure LEP cell. Perhaps she didn't need this plutonium; it was just a means of taking out a main factor. Him. However, if he was able to secure this plutonium, and he didn't get caught by the LEP, then she would more or less kill him the second he gave her the plutonium. He was damned either way.

Artemis couldn't give Opal a case of fake plutonium, as she would be monitoring the news channels for news of missing plutonium, which would have to make worldwide headlines. _Think boy, think_.

Artemis rose from the lotus position and paced the study, searching for a plan Opal will know if Artemis gets his hands on plutonium, yet he mustn't allow someone of her maniac to acquire something as plutonium. Plutonium. What a ridiculous demand.

As he was walking back toward the Northern wall, Artemis slipped, fell, and nearly broke his neck on what appeared to be a cylinder of some sort. Artemis frowned as he bent to see what tripped him. A slightly clear cylinder with a tint of orange. One of Beckett's cylinders from his geometry set.

Only recently, had Beckett shown an interest in something other than the culinary arts. If, you can consider mixing espresso sachets and treacle together cooking. Artemis smiled as he set it back on the mini-self specially built for Beckett to be able to reach easily. Another sibling going to the world of logic and reasoning.

Artemis went back to the lotus position, a plan forming with two simple goals: apprehend Opal whilst obliterating her plan and not giving her plutonium without having anyone getting killed.

**Chapter 3**

**Lower Elements magna strip**

"Can't this heap go any faster?!" Holly shouted to Mulch, who was driving.

"_No_," he replied, through gritted teeth (which is enough to stop any backseat driver straight in their tracks), "this is a civilian vehicle that has to abide by the LEP's traffic rules." He said this all in a somewhat insulting matter, as if Holly were to blame somehow.

"Oh Gods!" Doodah moaned, "We'll never make it there; it's the afternoon rush hour!" Indeed, it was the end of an average day, if the word "day" can be used in the underground, and thus all residents with a vehicle to drive were heading back to their dwellings.

The city of Haven is divided into three main sections: the Lower Elements Emergency Center, which consisted of LEP headquarters, LEMF (Lower Elements Medical Facilities), the main courthouse.

Next were the more, mundane activities: restaurants, entertainment parks, factories; the boring and ordinary activities of the "Average Joe" as humans were so fond of saying.

And, of course, the residential arena. It wouldn't take an Artemis Fowl to tell you that with a population of over 10,000 inhabitants, all heading towards the same general area, around the same general time, will most definitely be causing some backups, delays and accidents, and if you factor in that this is all crammed into a two-lane highway -with one lane reserved for police emergencies-, then what you have is a recipe for disaster. It was Holly, Mulch, and Doodah's potluck that they were traveling on this under-attended street.

"Now, now," Mulch warbled in a high-pitched falsetto, "patience is a virtue."

Holly shook her head. Only Mulch would joke at the serious of their situation, not that they were in any real danger themselves; but their business might if the general population finds out a team of three-one being the LEP's unofficial superstar-couldn't watch over some elderly dwarf.

"Not right now, it isn't." Holly replied taking a rectangle-shaped object from her shoulder pocket out. "Mulch, switch seats." He complied by un-belting and jumping in the back. Holly took place at the helm of the vehicle and slapped the strange object on the dash, where it sprouted out four legs that embedded into the car's dashboard and into the computer and engine.

"Umm…what exactly is that?" Doodah asked pointing at the spider-like box.

"It's one of Foaly's things-"

"Why am I not surprised?" Mulch asked, rolling his eyes.

"-anyway, It's kind of like a Mongocharger, what it does is hack into the car's computer, and gives it police authorization." Holly finished off, tapping a couple buttons on the on-board touch-screen computer.

"And why are we supposed to be impressed?" Mulch, of course. But the car answered the dwarf's question all on its own by swerving into the LEP emergency lane.

"How is this supposed to be like a Mongocharger?" Doodah had started to ask, but the words were forced back down his throat as the magna car roared in a burst of acceleration down the police highway.

**The residence of ****BoRegard**

Donzeta BoRegard was the dwarf in question whose life was currently in danger. His life was in danger of being ended in mere minutes, when the opportunity would present itself. The ender of Donzeta's life was entrusted to his grandson, who was ironically named after the man he planned to kill, Donzeta BoRegard the II.

At this moment, these two characters could create some confusion on who is who what with their near-same name, thus the grandfather shall be referred to as One and the One's namesake, shall be thus far be called Two.

Two sighed impatiently, waiting for his grandfather to leave (if only for a few seconds!) so he could implant a poisonous concoction he and his brothers brewed the previous night. Food poisoning, by far, a simple and uncomplicated plan. No could be blamed, but the chef who had prepared his grandfather's sizeable meal.

One stirred slightly, as if to arise from his chair and Two straightened up and creeped out slightly to check and see if One left. No, false alarm.

One was an old dwarf. Last time he had heard, he was about the 6th of 7th oldest dwarf around. As with a lot of the older community, some of his senses were gradually dulled down to nearly half of what they were at his peak. However, dwarves senses are usually much bettter than the average fairies; the have to have good eyes, ears, and what not to be the best at what they do: dig for the fortunes hidden within the Earth, so this is not to say that One did not catch a slight movement from out of the corner of his eye.

He whipped his head over and stared down the wall. Cream-colored walls with a large decorative window, that overlooked a natural, and very rare, underground waterfall. Swept to one side, in a decorative arc, was a curtain of heavy red velvet, which was the source of movement. An ever so-slow, slight movement of it swinging back and forth back and forth.

Arising cautiously, One looked at the curtain and said, "H-hello?"

There was no reply. One had not expected one. After all, if _he_ going to kill someone, he wouldn't say if he was there. Few would.

This wasn't to discourage One though, quickly, he grabbed a pair of x-ray goggles to give the room a customary scan. First wall, good. Second wall, good. Third wall, so far, so good. Now the forth wall. "Hello readers!" One shouted to everyone reading this. Author here, that whole "breaking the forth wall bit" didn't happen. He scanned the remaining wall. The wall with the still-swaying curtain. He gasped in relief. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Perhaps, his cat brushed past the window, causing the curtain to swing. Well, whatever he didn't care.

Two was breathing deeply as he sat atop the rafters of the ceiling. It had been hard work to shimmy up the curtain without making it sway too much to give way his presence being there.

He peeked a look down below at his grandfather. He was heading back to his table, muttering to himself something about a cat. Two frowned as wondered how he could poison the elderly dwarf. He answered his unvoiced query, _how am I going to get down there?_, quite easily: Use the cables. The trio of brothers had tried to plan for every contingency that they could think of and supplied Two with all necessary equipment, should anything go wring. Well, nothing was out-of-control wrong, just a minor-inconvenience.

Prepping for the moment when One would leave the room, though no one was sure 100 sure he would which case Plan B would have to be used. Plan B consisted of direct contact- which was to be avoided at all costs- and the injection of a deadly chemical that is found only in cats.

Two sniffled his nose. It was rather dusty up here, like no one had come to clean the high ceiling of a few good years at least. A dust particle, who shall play a small, but somewhat vital, part in the drama we call _Life_ flew through the air as Two rubbed his itchy nose. The particle flew in, drawn to the air currents sweeping around him.

_Oh Gods_, Two thought as a sudden, powerful urge took charge, _oh Gods not now_. Unfortunately, the Gods were not interested in Two's pleading and decided to help One out a bit. Two tried to breath in once and hold his breath, till the moment passed. Perhaps, it was breathing in that would-be final breath that triggered his sneeze. Perhaps, it was just a story book cliché at work, either way fate the result was identical.

"Ah…ah…AHHHCCCOOOO!!" There was no way that could be stifled or passed off on the cat. No doubt. There was nothing he could do. Nada. Zilch. Zero. And strangely enough, this made Two rather calm. _Well,_ he thought,_ already blew it guess it's time for "Plan B."_ So, without further ado, Two winched down from the rafters in a dramatic copy-cat form, that Batman, if he were to have been there, would have winced at the poser's attempt.

Two detached from the rappel cable as the last few feet neared and jumped, limbs outstretched in an eagle-spread stance. He landed shattering the knuckles of his right hand and receiving a hair-line fracture on his right foot. A cascade of blue sparks erupted from him targeting his hand and foot and several other minor cut, bruises, and abrasions.

He held back a wall of pain through a rush of adrenaline and determination, fighting to stand. He limped over to One, left hand awkwardly digging a syringe from a pocket within his vest.

Wrapping an arm around One's neck, he said "Sorry, Gramps." It would have been over then, as Two had raised the syringe of poison and held it at One's neck, if there hadn't been a sudden _crash!_ of a window, that had recently been, broken, and even more recently, entered.

With the aid of Foaly's gizmo, the journey took less than two minutes, at most, which gave the trio time to gain redemption of their mission. Holly took the window, Mulch took the ceiling entrance, and Doodah took the entrance doors.

Holly felt like one of those ridiculous explorers who swung through the jungles on vines, as she smashed into window. _Hmm, that was probably expensive_. As her eyes got used to the brighter light, she saw disaster was moments from striking; a younger dwarf had BoRegard pinned against a wall and was preparing to inject a serum of some sort into his Jugular vein. Without thinking, Holly dived at the dwarf pulling her gun from its holster.

Snapping up from a military roll, Holly, shouted "LEP! Release the hostage and put your hands up!"

Two/Donzeta BoRegard II paled as things went from worsening degrees of complications. He saw a way out: kill the LEP officer and he could still kill One. Okay, problem solved. Next came: how do I kill her? He answered, knock her out with the gun, then use the poison on her, too. Right, okay, he could do this. He drew an older Neutrino model aimed and began to pull the trigger back--

TWSEEEEE!

Donzeta BoRegard II slumped to ground, in unconsciousness. BoRegard and his brothers had been scheming for this moment nearly two or three months, and had given the original plan and the backup plan the most limelight when it came to practicing, even then, they had neglected the secondary plan a bit. When it came to those far-out and obscure complications, they had given those a great lack of attention.

This stands the reason why BoRegard was not able to win a gunfight with a seasoned LEPrecon jock, who had been in more firefights than is that the right "than" or is it the other one? she could count.

The backup plan the private investigators had concocted, which involved Doodah creating a distraction while Mulch used dwarf talents on Two (a most treacherous insult to attack a fellow dwarf), were redundant, which was a bit of a relief to Mulch.

"Hey! Foaly!" Holly shouted into her com-link, "get a squad down to 1304 Otter Avenue we have a three-twenty-two to wrap up."

On the other side of the link, Foaly replied, slightly hazy, "Okay Holly I'll get someone down there in five minutes. Tops."

**Chapter 5**

**Elsewhere**

If one I'm not talking about those BoRegard people, we are done with 'em!! was to ask anyone involved in the comic book business, they would tell you that one of the most priceless phrases is _meanwhile_. Another favorable concept in comic books, are time-warps. Time-warps usually take the readers of the story back a few moments and see what other characters might be doing. The author thinks the time is ripe to combine these concepts and insert them into this story.

Meanwhile, while Holly, Doodah, and Mulch were down below (well, Mulch and Doodah were, but Holly was traveling back down), Artemis and Butler were also traveling somewhere fast.

The fairy law is seriously flawed in two circumstances: one, it does not yet have any legal power over Demons. And two, is similar enough to one but it concerns different species, the People have no legal control over humans (though, one human in particular should be). So, it would be perfectly legal if a human was to, perhaps, hi-jack a fairy shuttle and decide to take it for a joyride, which may end in the Lower Elements.

"Artemis, I don't see why you can't just call Holly and tell her what's going on." Butler said, a bit irritably, which, all things considered, is understandable. First, the young master had summoned him to his study and filled him in on his encounter with Opal and had insisted on traveling below to grab the nutcase's plutonium. Second, He had been cramped into a shuttle designed for three foot midgets _not_ seven foot giants.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Eight years previous, Holly left the Mulch of the Past to dispose of the shuttle they had been using. But when they came back to the Future/Present, and asked Mulch, he just stared blankly and said he didn't have a clue what they were talking about; he did recalled waking up with the starter chip to a shuttle and no idea of how it got there. Artemis had concluded that Mulch must have been mind-wiped somehow, possibly by the Past Opal.

Holly had said that when she found a spare moment, she would tow it but until then, it would stay there. She could have just had an LEP squad tow it out, but that would have led to some awkward moments that could conclude in a cell for her. After all, Holly had technically stolen the shuttle eight years previously when the need to travel cross-continent had arisen.

The fact remained that Holly had not thus far come for it, when Artemis needed to travel down to Lower Elements, he turned to the aging shuttle, done some tinkering, hi-jacked a few programs and they were good. The first pair of humans to pilot a fairy vehicle. But, that's nothing new if you were Artemis Fowl the Second.

"That is the simplest plan, Butler," Artemis admitted, "however I told you: If I was to call Holly, or anybody else down there about Opal, then she would have,_ u_**ndoubtedly,** intercepted a transmission and proceeded to kill Holly. I cannot allow anyone to die when I could be indirectly responsible for it." There was a grim determination in the youth as he finished his answer.

"Alright," Butler said, not altogether satisfied with Artemis's answer, "when should we get there?" Butler consoled himself with the fact that he at least would be doing the dangerous part of his Principal's plan, but he still didn't like these hasty plans.

"I would say three…no, two hours and 57 minutes," Artemis called back from the helm.

"Hmm." Butler's foot nudged a yellow case with some official markings on it.

Nearly three hours later, the duo was stopped in the corner of a natural cave a couple thousand feet down below the surface of the Earth.

The shuttle was several yards from the location of where the evasive plutonium was in a holding bay. Artemis had calculated that the best chance of stealing the plutonium would be when it was being temporarily placed in the low-security storage bay. Of course, detailed files like this can not be obtained from a common jaunt to an ordinary site. No, no, Foaly's files and spy-ware had led Artemis to some more confidential elements that aided to form this complex "equation."

"This is where I get off." Butler said descending out of the shuttle quite glad to be back on solid ground where it was safe. Relatively speaking. It wasn't that Master Artemis was a bad pilot; it was more that Butler just now appreciated Holly's _expertise_ on handling shuttles. Butler straightened up and crept around to the front of the storage facility. Hiding himself behind a chunk of an up risen cliff, Butler tossed a rock around to the side the building where it connected with a noisy _thwack!_ Now Butler played the waiting game.

"Okay," came a voice, made robotic through older technologies. "The guard is walking around the side of the building….and…he's trapped." Artemis had decided, at Butler's suggestion, to remain in the shuttle and adopt the roll of watching through the cameras as the "all-seeing eye." Artemis had also managed to hi-jack control of force field nets in the surrounding area. The nets were generally used in quarantine situations to stop a certain area from spreading contagious diseases, but if a smart-minded person got his hands on the controls, they could be converted as temporary holding cells.

"Butler? You're in the clear. There isn't anyone else coming this way just the one other guard, looking for his partner…almost…ah, there we are." Artemis stated triumphantly.

"So," Butler began, "to recap: no more guards?"

"No, none."

"All right, I'm going in, roger?"

"Received. At the first fork you come across about a hundred feet up, take a right"

And so, Butler's quest for the over-rated plutonium began with him entering the facilities main doors, opened remotely by Artemis.

Again, something never seen on a daily basis is a 15 year old Irish and his bodyguard breaking into mythological creature's underground warehouses. Then again, there are many things rarely seen, such as a billion dollars all in singles in the same room. But, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. The situation is parallel to the plutonium theft in progress now.

From Foaly's files, Artemis had been able to download codes and schematics on the warehouse. He had been able to disable all security features and taking out the guards was child's play. Now all that remain was to just stroll in and grab the plutonium.

Simple enough, but the place was a maze of passages to navigate through (more low-ceilings) and if someone didn't know where they were going, they could end up making that their new home. This was where Artemis had a second role: to direct Butler to a maniac's MacGuffin. MacGuffin: a plot device generally used in movies.

Butler came to the fork exactly a hundred feet up and was stopped from proceeding to the right by a blockage. The blockage took form of a heavy metal door. It was true, several years ago (to the bodyguard) Butler had ripped through one these same doors like tissue paper, but he had two things going for him, one an incentive and two, several years youth. After his healing that had cost him fifteen I plead the fif!! Inside joke. years life, his physical strength had dropped then rose up to slightly les than what it could have been. Brute force was out of the equation.

That's not to say it was over. "Artemis," he said into his throat patch, "there's a door blocking me from the next corridor." Butler heard a faint sound of fingers swishing through the air on (presumably) a V-board as the young master attempted to hack through the door. Not many would have heard that.

"Hmmm," Butler could imagine a frown on his charge's face. "Ah! There we are nice little 'back door' to get past this barricade."

The bodyguard shifted slightly, half in uneasiness, half in ennui. "How long will it take to open the door?"

In answer, the portal opened with a pneumatic hiss. "I do believe they already are, old friend."

Butler chuckled slightly. "There's a bit of Foaly in you yet. Which way now?"

"Continue along this way for 70 meters then turn right, after that, there is a triple fork, continue through the center."

And for about the next ten minutes, this is how Butler's journey to the holding bay went, a few for more stainless steel doors. Some doors were equipped with hand and finger scanners, but they were older models that simply scanned the hand or thumb as a picture, and it was a simple matter to scan the stand and re-feed it onto the machine, with a prototype holographic phone Artemis had recently developed (with some of the People's "liberated" technology).

Eventually, Butler ended up in the main sanctum containing one of Earth's most dangerous substances. Well, there might be something more deadly someday…

Artemis had mentioned earlier that turning off the security systems would have a mixed effect with the heist of the oxidized pu IV. The manservant didn't know what he meant by this earlier, as he couldn't see what the disadvantages of a lower security were, but now he let out an audible gasp at the sight that met his eyes.

The terminator-like figure (not that Artemis liked that franchise, claiming it was seriously flawed plot-wise) was, almost literally looking into the Abyss, for; the sight that danced in front of his eyes was something that almost compared to the chutes that lead to the Earth's core with three major differences: a lack of the orange magma at the bottom (if it had one; it appeared to just be a black void), a series of stepping blocks that were scattered randomly about, and there seemed to be a large flat plane in the center of the chamber with an orange case of (hopefully) plutonium.

"Artemis," Butler began, "I trust you're monitoring the surveillance cameras? What do you make of these?"

Back in the shuttle, Artemis frowned; there hadn't been anything in Foaly's files about the actual room where the plutonium was kept (which, he found odd) and he hadn't known how exactly to prepare for this part. Not that he hadn't surmised some of the security features from his experiences with the People, and he was glad that they'd packed accordingly.

"Hmm, I recall there wasn't anything on Foaly's filed about them or any LEP site. I would assume that those…blocks rotate around to form a bridge to that center platform, as well as other to other exits. I don't think there's anything I can do without redlining their security; try the magnets."

From a pouch in the manservant's suit-pocket, Butler removed a numerous amount of small circular magnets and tossed them at the nearest block. They flew forward and hit home to where the bodyguard was aiming: the side. The magnets connected with the metallic cube and promptly fell from the structure and clanged together to form a chain of magnets which continued its plight down the Abyss. Butler followed their progress until they fell from his range of vision.

"The magnets didn't stick, Artemis." The Eurasian man reported.

"Hmm, well, that complicates this a bit, I would guess either they weren't attractable or they're coated with a repellent of some kind."

"I see." Some habits die hard.

Artemis chuckled slightly. "I'll bet you do. We appear to have a dilemma to overcome, though." And the young master voiced opinions, more to himself, than the bodyguard. Butler was used to this and took a look at the environment around him. The room was shaped in a spherical way making it a cylinder. The walls were a deep purple. No, not purple, violet.

Violet…

The shade reminded him of the color a faulty flu shot that had damn near killed one of his friends. This struck Butler oddly. _Why would I be reminded of a flu shot?_

Hmmm, flu. Influenza: an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae. Disease: abnormal condition in an organism that in some cases is isolated. Isolated. Secluded. Quarantined. _Of course! The nets._

"Artemis," He started hurriedly, "are those quarantine force fields able to reach inside here?"

"Anywhere in the complex and the surrounding area. Why? Unless you're suggesting…" Artemis broke off here calculating. Could it work? Could he use the nets to transport Butler to the center platform? Might just work. But he had to test it first. "Butler? Could you take off you suit jacket?"

An odd request some would think, but when you work for Artemis Fowl, the abnormal becomes the ordinary. Butler complied placing it on the ground. "Will I be getting it back?" He asked.

"If all goes well, yes." Artemis began typing a series of commands onto the computer.

Butler's foot stopped tapping brusquely as his Hugo Boss suit jacket I think I got his suit type wrong please do check! flew into the air and landed some meters away, on the center piece.

"Where do you want me to stand?" Butler asked, tensing himself for whatever would happen.

"Oh, that's not necessary," Artemis said, tapping away on his V-board, "I can just remotely pick up the plutonium with the nets and bring it to you to carry back."

"Alright." Butler was not exactly…._thrilled_ to have the task of carrying a volatile substance like plutonium, but duty calls, best not to ignore it. Not that they were _as_ dangerous as they were, that and the fact that these were fairy-made plutonium, eased the manservant's nerves. "Standing by."

He didn't have to wait long, barely a second later, the orange case soared to him, where he picked it up, popped the lid open and took a look at its contents. Yeah, this looked like the same stuff Butler helped some governments-whose names he was forbidden to say-load into nuclear missiles. A clear and wide cylinder protecting Butler (and the fairy general in public) from the deadlier orange-tinted oxidized pu IV. He closed the lid down then.

"Eh, Butler?" Artemis's voice sounded odd. As though he had something of great concern to say, but was being too calm for the situation.

"Yes, Artemis?" Whatever Butler had been expecting, an explanation of some imminent danger, or even to be disciplined for opening the plutonium up, was not regarded.

Artemis simply shouted at the top of his lungs, "RUN FOR IT!!"

Barley a minute before, a thought struck Artemis. A thought, that if it had to take form of a mineral it would be a crystal, that sliced through the other mire he had been mulling over as a hot knife would through butter. _Foaly's system was surprisingly easy to break into. If I could get in, then so could someone else. Opal._ A setup! He'd thought that was why she wanted Artemis to get it in the first place, just to get him out of the way. He had to get out over there. Fast.

Some say lightning never strikes twice. Perhaps not. But a second bolt hit him, _Oh God! Butler! I have to get him out of there!_

"Eh, Butler?" he asked, trying to maintain a structure of calm. _Relax, you may be wrong._

"Yes, Artemis?" Oh to the Devil with it!

"RUN FOR IT!!"

**Chapter 6**

From his years with Artemis, Butler could usually tell how dangerous a situation was from the youth's tone of voice and usage of words. Only once before, had Artemis used this type of dialect and it had ended with a near visit from the Other-Side at the hands of a deranged troll.

The bodyguard did not need further confirmation from Artemis and turned to face the door leading out to the corridors and gritted his teeth at his final verification: the steel wall-door, sliding down. His steps thundered on the polyographic floor, some leaving small indents on the dust-repellent ground, he was about eleven steps from the sealing door when he realized he wouldn't make it. Not by running through. The manservant had never quite taken up sports, on the basis that his life was already mapped out as a server to the latest Fowl, but had also been trained at Madame Ko's Academy on several forms of escape from a hostile area; a certain one popped in his mind that he took no hesitation to. Folding his right leg back keeping his left straight out, he preformed a slide through the door threatening to trap him in there that would have shamed Bob Gibson. The slide cost him a friction burn on his knee, though that was the least of his worries.

The protector surged through the zigzag pattern of the warehouse, occasionally having to wrench a closing door back up with a force never known to fairy-kind, including heavy weight champion Swerf Yuri, able to lift 150 percent his own body weight. What would have been a ten, fifteen minute trip back to their shuttle, turned into a 90 second mad dash out of there. Miraculously, the bodyguard managed to hold on to the case containing plutonium.

Using a breathing trick to lower his heartbeat, the manservant entered the commandeered shuttle in somewhat of an annoyance, to say the least and avoid the most crude terms.

"Artemis, what the Hell happened out there?" Butler demanded. "Why were the doors closing?"

Artemis did his best to give an answer. "I had a sudden revelation of something I hadn't thought of."

Butler wore a frown to match his crossed arms. "And that would be?"

Artemis said, "I thought that this was all rather too easy and convenient that we should so easily be able to steel this plutonium."

Butler nodded at this.

"It had occurred to me that Opal must have lowered security systems in order to make it simpler for us to steal her plutonium. I immediately suspected Opal wanted to trap one or both of us in there to be arrested by the LEP."

"Does this change your plan in some way?"

Artemis gave a customary vampire smile. "No, old friend, not in the slightest."

**Lower Elements Police Plaza**

Holly was up to her arms in paperwork. Literally. The stack of paper was a just a few inches from touching her chin. She groaned. If there was ever a time she regretted joining LEPrecon, this was it. There were some officers born for desk work. Grub Kelp was a prime example of this. Only yesterday, he had been appointed a position back, at the safe and sound LEP headquarters, as a desk filer. He viewed this as a promotion, Holly viewed as a putdown, not that she had desk job, Heaven forbid!

She still had to fill out reports concerning various arrests and profiles on the assorted delinquents she had bagged. She sighed from the long and boring hours this frustrating paperwork promised to give. Holly took a stab with one of the inquiry sheets for Gon SuLoo, a goblin who hi-jacked an LEP car filled with a collection of goblins being transferred to Howler's Peak.

_Name: _Gon SuLoo

_Species:_ Goblin

_Crime:_ GTA on an LEP cruiser

_Recommended penalty:_ 100-200 in Howler's Peak

_Date of hearing:_ March fifth, 30,008

_Testimony of arrester:_ yes

_In 50 words or less, describe what happened:_

Ugh. Before she could continue, Holly was going to get a mineral water from the break room or as some of the officers called it: the Savior. She scooted back in her chair, rose to her full height of exactly three feet, and made her quest for the Savior. She passed Grub's booth and saw he was playing some sort of video game that looked human-manufactured. Some sort of zombie slaying game by the looks of it plenty of blood and gore.

"Whatcha doing there?" Holly asked a hand raised and pointing at the screen.

Grub paled a bit but still managed to throw a story together, "Officer Short, I, ehh, was just testing this confiscated software from the raid earlier tonight. I just wanted to make sure there were no viruses or hidden messages."

Holly raised an eyebrow, "And so, you test a video game for viruses on a computer locked into the LEP's mainstream?"

Grub saw the hole in his story and mumbled, "Perhaps, you're right. Next time I'll bring in my handheld computer."

"Why not just bring it to Foaly if you're that concerned?" Holly said, a smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth.

Without really waiting for a response, Holly turned and continued on towards the break room where something rather interesting occurred there. Not that it actually happened there or anything, but is was where Holly caught the last few seconds of the newswoman's report.

"…..once again, a case of plutonium has gone missing from the Winslow Vault. There only seems to be just one frame where any sign of the perpetrators are shown. Once more, here is the only shot captured by security cameras." The sprite reporter's face was replaced with a picture. Holly had been giving the broadcast her undivided attention and analyzed the picture before her.

The picture was from the inner sanctum where plutonium was usually held, before it was transferred to a place with higher security like Atlantis. It showed the main entranceway door sliding down on something that appeared to be a shoe of some sorts. The shoe was rather large size ten or twelve if she had to guess. _One thing's for sure,_ Holly thought, _I definitely wouldn't want to tangle with a guy like that._ She thought if she finished some the dreadful paper work, she might investigate this story a bit.

**Fowl Manor**

Artemis sat in his study, working on a part of his plan. A somewhat important element. Not that it he was going to stop Opal with it, but then according to the Ripple Effect, any action, no matter how small, will have a cause and effect on other and sometimes more things. Butler was out in the doji training. Just a quick stop here before heading to the drop zone Opal said to meet at. Though, _said_ doesn't exactly do the situation justice. _Demanded_ or _blackmailed_ was closer to the mark.

Artemis checked the camera he had hidden in Butler's doji, he'd installed in several hours ago. He felt immoral at doing so, but he didn't want to endanger any of his few friends he managed to make. Butler's face was slick with perspiration as he defeated various virtual villains. _Well, now's as good a time as any to do this._

Without further doubt, Artemis plucked up a yellow case and headed off to the stolen shuttle.

**Largen Mt Regional Park**

Opal Koboi of the Past had told Artemis to meet him at the Largen Mt Regional Park in Lisborn. The Regional Park stretches for some 12 miles between Stranmillis at Belfast and the Union Locks at Sprucefield. It comprises almost 175ha. of land and lies within the council areas of Belfast, Castlereagh and Lisburn. The beacon, which Opal had left to direct Artemis to the drop zone, was showing up clear on the radar map. It appeared to be leading him to a mountainside cliff with multitudes of trees, pines, shrubbery, and various hidden caves.

At the edge, was a clearing where the beacon was emitting from, with the ease of an amateur, Artemis landed the shuttle down and sent a message out in Morse code to a certain pixie. Getting out of the shuttle, Artemis paused only to grab a yellow case with some official markings on it. Now was the wait.

He didn't have to wait long, barley five minutes later, Artemis felt a vibration around him. Looking up, a sight of ludicrousness met his eyes, the shuttle Opal had engineered was nothing more than a DMC-12 that looked as though it had been enlarged and redesigned. _Really_, Artemis thought,_ I believe Opal overdid it with the whole "time travel" bit, Steven Spielberg would surely sue._

The shuttle landed with a two pairs of wheels folding out from where the inner wheel wells were. Artemis took in all willpower to not roll his eyes. The door opened in it's traditional gull wing fashion, upwards, revealing its occupant: Opal Koboi.

"Opal," Artemis breathed.

"Fowl," she spat out, "do you have my plutonium?"

In response, Artemis hefted the case up and shook it in front of her face. "Right here."

"DON'T WAVE THAT THING IN MY FACE!!" Opal screamed out, "Are you crazy! That thing could go off at any second!!" _Not true._ "Now put it on the ground!" She demanded while pointing to a spot near the rear of her vehicle with a perfectly manicured nail.

_How does one on the run from the authorities find the time to keep up her appearances?_ Mystified Artemis's mind as he set the case down near the odd shuttle.

"Good set it down slowly, now back away from it."

Artemis did, trying to look as though he was merely a frightened youth who gave plutonium to a madwoman. That wasn't too hard to imagine, with one minor difference. As he had expected, Opal walked over to the yellow container, popped the catches open to take a look in side.

Twenty canisters, four rows and five columns, of plutonium, each packed in a clear cylinder with the clear orange, met Opal's eyes. Artemis could see excitement glitter across them with a tinge of madness to them there was something else too, he couldn't be sure, but it looked like joy. _She loves being evil_, Artemis realized.

Selecting a tube at random, Opal inserted it into her car/shuttle by screwing a cap off and simply allowing the cylinder to drop in whole.

_That cinches it_, Artemis thought, _she never did need it, now would probably be a good time to sedate her_. Rather than actually giving her plutonium, Artemis had simply packed a yellow case full of Beckett's cylinders he used for Geometry. They wouldn't do if put under tests, but if Artemis staked his guess correctly, then Opal probably wouldn't even bother to do anything other than look at them. The only reason Artemis had even stolen the plutonium was to give himself the media he knew Opal would be keeping a watch for.

The Irish youth reached into an inner pocket in his jacket, while Opal's back was turned. Very cowardly, to be sure, but one can't always get ahead through pure of heartedness, which was best left for the books. He felt around his pocket, checked his others and was met with the same results. No dart gun, hence no way to eliminate Opal, hence he was about to die. _At least, you helped to delay her_, he said to himself to cope with whatever was coming next.

Opal turned back to him and said, "I suppose you've done your part. So, now comes the fun part."

"If you're going to kill me, pixie," Artemis said through clenched teeth, "then get it over with!" Opal smiled, this was too good really she'd _love_ to dispose of this worthless human, not that he hadn't proved himself useful by giving her the plutonium, but she had to draw it out a couple seconds.

"Oh, you're not going to get off that easy," she said grinning maliciously, "first I'm going to torture you into insanity, then when you are begging me to kill you, I'll then kill all your friends and family after you have watched me torture them, and then when you've all hope, then I'll kill you."

Artemis found himself strangely thinking, _she used the word "then" _way_ too much. If I could pick one thing that annoys me most when talking to people, it's unsophisticatedness in their dialect_.

A last minute and last attempt plan came to mind. It wasn't even a very good plan, just one committed by those granted with a few seconds to gain an edge in an already hopeless situation. He took a few breaths to prepare himself to charge Opal. His legs had just started to pump towards her; she saw this, saw a human- a sentient being- pushed beyond his limits her eyes widened in shock and surprise, maybe the slightest ounce of fear, and fled to her shuttle glad she initiated her backup plan before landing.

As she started her unusual craft, a blinding spotlight swept the area, this was followed by a thundering voice shouting in horse tones, amplified by a speaker emitting from an official-looking vehicle, saying, "This is the LEP, we know you're out there! Come out with your hands up and there won't be any problems!"

Artemis rolled his eyes at this typical police argot, though his retinas got scorched by the spotlight as it locked on a target. Him. They descended on him like flies on a carcass. Opal, meanwhile decided to make good her escape. Tucking the fake plutonium in the seat next to her, she sped off on the car/shuttle hybrid's wheels. The LEP saw this too and attempted to pursue her, and almost caught her when she disappeared in a brilliant flash of lightning.

The LEP fumed briefly at this loss then turned to their original target: the mudman they had an anonymous tip about stealing the case of plutonium. It wasn't very difficult to apprehend the human; just a single blast from an officer's Neutrino was enough to take him down. He was secured with a set of octo-bonds, not wanting to take chances, he was, after all, the only human to find a way to escape the time-stop, and brought aboard where he would be sent to a holding cell while the LEP decided what to do with him.

**Chapter 7**

Artemis was meditating. Or to put it more accurately, he was _trying_ to meditate, but it's rather hard to relax your mind and body when your joints are squeezed and twisted around you and when your mind is working out inevitable, you can't say relaxation would come easy. Judging from the way Artemis's ears popped, he guessed that they were going underwater, more than twenty feet, perhaps several fathoms.

Artemis mentally went over what underwater bases the People had and came up with: Atlantis, the town, the jail. The jail is most likely, as it's where the criminals are kept, for where he was being taken. He swallowed. He had heard Mulch talk about the Atlantis jail and the other jails the People had. They weren't pleasant.

The shuttle stopped with a slight lurch and Artemis rolled forward in the prisoner's cell, slamming his arm against the hard steel wall. The guard posted outside laughed and said "That's why they installed seat belts."

Artemis glared at him and was thinking of an insult to trade back, when he remembered his mouth had been gagged. He had started to say, "Well, it's rather hard to do that when you're tied up." What came out was, "Mmphf muuuumifhfh!"

The guard chuckled again and muttered something under his breath containing the word _cowpog_. A message came to him from his helmet. The guard said "Alright, I'll move him out now." The guard unlocked the door and dragged Artemis out to the main body of the shuttle where he was deported into a hanger or sorts. Looking around, Artemis noticed that were no signs advertising where he was. Nor did he see anything that had any lasting impressions. It was just a half tube to park the shuttle in and a hallway leading to a closed door.

"The cube's a bit o' overkill, don't ya tink?" A private posted outside the shuttle port asked.

"For this un? Not nearly enough if you ask me." the escort guard replied.

Artemis heard this and his brain registered_: cube? What cube? Unless…Oh for the love of God!_ The group neared the end of the hallway where they met up with the closed door. One of the guards went over to a keypad and started typing in a long and complex code going to fast for Artemis to read. The door slid open with an efficient swiftness. The same guard un-holstered his gun and leveled it at the door. _Just as I thought, this cell is being occupied, and if my guess is right, its sole occupant will be… _

"Opal Koboi." Artemis breathed as he was shoved inside the cell. The door slid shut so escape was impossible there.

The devilish pixie looked up at Artemis and squinted a look of recognition in her eyes. She leaned into an object she was holding and said, "You're right, Goodboy, it is that Artemis Fowl human." Artemis double-checked his surroundings, looking for another prisoner and found none.

"Shh, Twinky!" Opal suddenly said. "Don't say that too loudly, the Fowl boy might hear our plans, I grant it is a nice one." This time, Artemis saw her whispering to an object that appeared to be fashioned from cardboard. It looked as though, in Artemis's opinion, it had been attempted to be made into a snake or a sea horse of some kind.

It only then occurred to Artemis that Opal was talking to a piece of cardboard; an inanimate object. _Oh dear Lord_, he thought rubbing his forehead; _I'm in the company of a nutcase_.

**LEP Headquarters **

Holly had managed through several feet of the paper work and was down to about six or seven more forms, mostly perp files. Next to her was a radio tuned in to the LEN (Lower Elements News). She hadn't heard anything about it since the original broadcast, but figured it couldn't hurt to have it on to listen for any new leads.

_Name: _Gregoriu Foon

_Species: _Dwarf

_Crime: _Theft of restricted files belonging to LEP (this was a bit of an overreaction the files merely contained the TV programs Foaly "monitored")

_Recommended penalty:_ 50-100

_Date of hearing:_ April first, 30,008

_Testimony of arrester:_ yes (why shouldn't she? She didn't really have anything better to do?)

_In 50 words or less, describe what happened:_

Before Holly could start on what was sure to be a tedious reiteration, a news cast came over the radio that stopped Holly right in mid-tap.

"Artemis Fowl, the human known for his assistance to the LEP against Opal Koboi, has been arrested for the theft of plutonium found missing earlier today. the Council has now been called down in an emergency meeting in how to…."

Holly's eyebrows nearly went through the roof. _Artemis? No way. He's not the most honest human in the world, but he wouldn't do something like this_. She got up and headed to Foaly's office to see where Artemis was being held so she could see what the mudboy had to say.

**Atlantis Prison Cube**

Artemis had been in the cell for several hours; he would guess he had been there, maybe, eight hours and some-odd minutes. In that time, nothing happened that could be conceived as "important" although, Artemis knew that even the tiniest fact could have a huge impact later on. So far, all he had learned was that Opal was a little more deranged then she usually was, talking to her cardboard toys, which turned out to be sea horses.

Another pastime of hers was to write letters to LEP hotshots, he had seen a few from reading over her shoulder and saw that she was either pretending to be insane or was insane pretending to be mentally secure. Opal also seemed to forget her unspoken sworn vengeance against the LEP, or at least against Artemis. She knew who he was, but didn't seem to care.

So, after eight hours of this Opal, Artemis would welcome almost anything to come along and make life a little more interesting. _Almost_ anything. Conveniently, the LEP had decided that the flash they saw from Past Opal's DMC-12 mock-up had returned her to her own time and she must have somehow lost her memory of her whole encounter in the Future. Thus, security from the cube and other places had been lifted. This took effect immediately after Artemis's incarceration.

A sound shook the thoughts of any escape plan from Artemis's head. The sound was not dissimilar from _Raiders of the Lost Ark,_ with its BOOKUH-BOO-KUH-BOOO-KAH! Needless to say, the room's occupant's attention was focused on the hole on the wall where the door was. From the smoke and flames, came a figure's outline. It was a female, possibly a pixie, and most probably the Opal Koboi of the Past. As the smoke cleared out, Artemis saw he was right and was only mildly surprised that the Present Opal took in the full meaning of her other self's appearance.

"Oh," Present Opal said, "It's you. I was figured you were going to come sometime around now."

The other Opal looked at herself and said, "You doubted my appearance?"

"Well," Present Opal said, tapping a nail on her chin, "I'd have to say yes."

_Maybe they'll finish each other off_, Artemis thought, _well, maybe the Opal of the Past will kill the Present one, though according to the time-travel laws, it's unlikely Past Opal dies because the Present Opal is here now_.

"Have you brought means of escaping this cell?" Present Opal challenged her younger self.

The pixie sneered at her future self, "Do I look like a mere fool?"

"With those ridiculous boots, I'd have to say, yes."

"Well then, I'm happy to prove you wrong, there's a prototype shuttle outside in the hanger." Past Opal gestured down the now-visible tunnel down at the shuttle she had made her escape in.

"My," Artemis said, speaking for the first time going on calculated wording, "I am glad that I shall remain here as a witness of Opal Koboi's escape from this place."

The two Opals looked at each other and laughed. "Who said you were being left behind?" the Past Opal managed before bursting into another fit of laughter.

"Yes, we leave you here to expose my counter-parts existence? Doesn't seem very enticing." The other one said.

"Not in the slightest." Past Opal said shaking her head.

"It appears I have no choice, then?" Artemis said, glad things were working in his way slightly.

"Not at all." The Koboi's said in unison.

"Put your hands in these." Past Opal demanded throwing a pair of fairy cuffs to Artemis. He fumbled with them for a moment, then they were on and the group set off to the shuttle.

"Tell me Opal." Artemis began.

"Yes?" both replied.

Artemis took a breath. This could get complicated. "Past Opal, what is your plan? Maybe I could join your team and help you take over the world."

Past Opal looked a little surprised at this offer "Why would you want to help me? You're a goody-to-shoes."

"Artemis smiled, "Considering the LEP wouldn't even listen to me, that and the fact that I was originally a criminal mastermind, I'm surprised that you need a reason from me."

Present Opal shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright, you're onboard." Past Opal extended her hand. Artemis swallowed his pride and shook it. They entered her craft with Opal of the Past at the helm.

They started out of the hanger, slowly so they didn't scrape the shuttle's sides, they exited the shuttle with a burst of acceleration.

**LEP Headquarters shuttle bay**

"Just do me a favor," Foaly said, as he went over some last minute things, "don't break this shuttle."

Holly climbed into the shuttle Foaly had procured for Holly to talk to Artemis, though officially, she was merely doing Foaly a favor and testing out a new model he was working on. Holly winked at the centaur, "Don't worry; I'm a professional."

With that in mind, she took off down the chute leading to the Atlantis prison cube.

**Ireland, ****Celtic ****Sea**

Artemis had been in the shuttle's other room, trying to find a way out of this madness. He came back in to the main sanctum of the ship and found they were still underwater. The two Opals appear to have been conferring something and stopped when he came in.

"Why are we still underwater?" Artemis asked pointing to the window where a fish of some kind swam past.

"We're trying to avoid the going into the main chutes." Opal of the Present answered.

"Yes, and it's all the better as they've heard of the escape and are coming to investigate." Opal Past supplied also. "We planned to leave a body behind to throw them off track."

Artemis raised an eyebrow "And do we have a body to cast off to sea?"

The Opals exchanged a glance; it was clear that they had just been speaking of this matter. "Well, in a matter of sense, yes." Past Opal answered.

Artemis had a bad feeling creep over him. "Where is it?"

"Right here mudboy!" Present Opal screeched, throwing a lever that opened a door to the Celtic Sea, where the shuttle equalized the pressure so the water didn't come flooding through. Before he could say or do anything, Artemis was hurled from the ship and into the depths of the Celtic Sea.

"Good riddance to him if you ask me." Past Opal said, closing the door.

"Yes, a wise decision to get rid of him." Present Opal said, appearing to regain her sanity, "finally I am rid of that obnoxious human, though I'll admit it's a pity we didn't get to see him suffer."

The other Opal nodded in agreement.

Artemis was never a fan of exercise, even after his fairy adventures and empty promises; he had never once decided to take a trip to a gym or pursued one of those ridiculous workout machines. Needless to say, swimming was among one of those empty promises. Now however, Artemis sorely regretted not doing any of his attempts of exercise. Brains did not count for much down her, unless you had the proper equipment.

He clawed the water ahead of him for every foot he could get. The water plugged his ears and hampered his vision into a fuzzy cloud of distortion. Common sense told him to kick off his shoes and anything that would weigh him down. His arms began to ache from being in use for so long it was like pulling through molasses. It would be so easy to just stop and rest for a bit. The lack of air dulled Artemis's mind and made him disoriented. Blackness ate at the corners of his eyes. So easy…so tired…

Holly reached the prison hold at over five times the speed of sound, and found that it was in ruins. Shocked, she flew in for a closer examination and found that a portion of the cube seemed to have been blown out where the water pressure soon made quick work of the place. Holly realized that this was no accident and knew that someone had undoubtedly freed Opal. She confirmed this with a shuttle scan that would search for any type of vehicle in the area and she found one speeding rapidly from the site. Holly was a step from pursuing the unknown travelers when she noticed a limp form in the water. Zooming towards it, the Captain discovered with a shock that it was none other than Artemis. Using the shuttle's clamper to drag him in, Holly set the shuttle on auto-pilot and jumped to the back of the craft where Artemis would be brought in.

Out of no where, came a shudder that was not unlike an earthquake, and it could even be accepted as that, but Holly had caught a glimpse of the readouts and saw someone sent out an EMP to disable anything electronic in the immediate vicinity from pursuing the mystery travelers. The lights flickered off to be replaced with emergency glow-strips. The power ports would recharge themselves, but that would take several hours, at least.

Holly gave thanks for being able to save Artemis before the power gave out. She clambered into the back of the shuttle and looked Artemis over; to make sure he was okay.

"Hey, Artemis?" Holly asked, "Are you alright? What's going on around here?" It was around then that she noticed that Artemis wasn't conscious. "Artemis?" she asked. "Are you okay?" Her field instincts came in action and checked his heart and pulse. Nothing. Not even a flicker. Holly looked into his eyes and saw something that sent a shiver through her. It was something she had seen too many times than she'd have preferred. It was the look of death claiming another victim.

**Chapter 8**

Artemis was suddenly aware of being on a shuttle. He looked around him and saw that it wasn't Opal's shuttle and was instantly relieved. The overhead lights were all out and the only source of illumination came from an eerie set of strips on the walls that glowed a faint yellow. Ahead of him, Artemis saw a fairy with their back to him. Good, someone to explain how he got here. As he walked up, the boy saw that the fairy was none other than Captain Holly Short. Well, well, always good to see a friend.

"Holly?" Artemis said, or, at least, he thought he did. Holly didn't do anything, but Artemis noticed that her shoulders were shaking and that she was looking at something. Artemis leaned over her shoulder and saw, well, himself. He was lying on a gurney and his face was abnormally whiter than it usually was. His body was soaked with seawater and his shoes were missing. Artemis's eyes widened at this discovery and he tried again to say something to Holly.

"Holly? What's going on? What is that?" He asked nodding to the gurney? She did nothing so Artemis said this again, this time shouting.

The only thing Holly did was lean over the body and say, "Artemis, you can't be dead, I-I love you." Tears started to spill from her eyes.

Artemis looked back at Holly, finally understanding. _I died_, he thought, _I must not have survived in the water_. He was surprised at what Holly said. Artemis knew she had cared for him as a friend, but never knew that she loved him, just as he loved her.

The world around Artemis suddenly froze. He looked at Holly and saw that she was paused in mid-sob two sea green tear-drops hung in midair. Looking around, he saw that every thing was just, paused on hold. White enveloped around him and the Irish youth discovered another presence in the white.

HELLO, ARTEMIS FOWL.

Artemis recoiled in fright. The voice care from nowhere and every where at the same time.

"H-hello?" he answered.

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I LAST SPOKE TO ONE OF YOUR KIND.

Artemis pondered this, then gasped as he thought of who this creature could be.

"Who are you?" he asked.

WHO DO YOU THINK?

"Are you God?" Artemis answered the entity.

He heard a rumbling and it took him a few moments to realize that the being was laughing at him.

NO.

"Then, what are you?" Artemis sensed that this thing liked to play games.

I AM A BEING THAT PERCEIVES THINGS THROUGH A DIFFERENT LEVEL.

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked regaining a bit of courage.

YOU LIVE IN A THREE DIMENSIONAL WORLD, CORRECT?

"Well, technically we live in a four dimensional world, if you count time as the forth dimension."

WELL DONE. I AM A BEING THAT LIVES IN A HIGHER DIMENSION.

"Ah."

The two sentient beings stood there for several minutes, when a question that had been gnawing at Artemis freed itself.

"Tell me, did my-my life make any difference to this world?"

Some more rumbling met his ears.

OF COURSE, EVERY LIFE, NO MATTER HOW INSIGNIFICANT, MAKES A DIFFERENCE THROUGH THE RIPPLE EFFECT. BUT NOT AS MUCH AS IT COULD HAVE.

He nodded. "And my death?"

NO.

Artemis was taken aback at this. No one probably likes to hear that their death and life didn't really matter.

"So what is this place?" Artemis asked. A figure took form in the area in front of him. As the figure neared, Artemis saw it was an old man.

THIS IS SIMPLY AN ILLUSION. YOU ARE STILL WHERE YOU BEGAN.

The youth looked questionably at the old man. The creature could see Artemis didn't understand this. The figure seemed to peel back a corner of the white and Artemis saw that they were, indeed, still in the shuttle. The world was still on pause. Artemis could see tears suspended, from Holly's eyes, their flight to the ground, halted. Just as suddenly as the world had paused, it resumed for several seconds, the tears from Holly's eyes splashed into Artemis's, and the world was put on hold again.

I MUST GO NOW. YOU AS WELL.

Go? Go where? Where else? Artemis still had to ask. "Where are we going?"

I SHALL DEPART TO WHERE I CAME.

"And I?"

Before the creature could answer, two portals seemed to open up. They had a vague presence of gold. The old man indicated at these gateways and said,

YOU MUST CHOOSE WHICH ONE TO ENTER.

"Where do they lead?"

YOU KNOW WHERE.

The Irish boy nodded thoughtfully. He knew. It was a situation not unlike the lady and the tiger. Artemis was experienced in magical intuition from his years with the People, but this, this wasn't a fairy magic; it was something more. He looked from one to the other. A sweeping feeling overcame him. Artemis discovered the entity he had been talking to had vanished to wherever it was he had come from.

Which portal should he take? They exactly alike in everyway. They were positioned on either side of him. He looked toward the right, it was beckoning to him. _Come, my boy, over here._ The voice had a tantalizing quality to it, a luring. Artemis smiled and walked over to this one, his foot had just passed over when instant realization came over him. It was the wrong gateway, leading only to death and the Next Part. As soon as the tip of his toe passed through, he knew this and also knew that he was doomed, for the portal had started to suck him in. Artemis rapidly looked from side to side, looking for something to anchor himself here. There was nothing.

Depression over came Artemis Fowl. Depression that was brought on by unachieved goals, inexperienced aspirations. Most of all, Artemis was sad that he never got a chance to talk to Holly even say goodbye. His head drooped, his eyes streamed with tears. _Life isn't fair, _he thought, bitterly, _it's a cold cruel game that higher being use to play around with. Goodbye Holly I'm sorry_.

Holly.

His eyes snapped open. No. This was unacceptable he wouldn't give in, he wouldn't. Artemis bobbed his head up looking for a way out of his hopeless plight. He couldn't find one, but that wasn't to stop him, he was going to make the Other Side fight for him.

_It's hopeless_, he thought, _it cannot be done_. The Irish consciously let go of the portal, and hung there, suspended between this portal and another force. He felt as though someone was using him to play a game of tug-a-war that could have calamitous endings. What was keeping him in the balance between the two portals? Wait, when did he enter the other portal that had been on his left? _That was it!_ Someone was dragging him back over! Using all willpower, and something more, Artemis stretched to the left portal and was sucked through. Then, he was aware of nothing.

**Chapter 9**

**The shuttle's sick bay, Celtic Sea**

Holly leaned over her friend's body and sobbed, "Artemis, you can't be dead, I-I love you."

Tears started to spill from her eyes. It was true; she loved him she finally knew. It was cruel of the universe to take him when Holly finally realized what she wanted, what she needed. Her first set of tears fell into Artemis's eyes, landing on the contrasting eyeball. Holly saw they had glowed an aqua green, though when they splashed on Artemis's eyes, they seemed to…sink into him.

Holly didn't know what else she could do for her friend, her friend who had done so much for her and her people. She closed her eyes and turned away. His death would haunt her forever she knew that everyday, just like Julius. At least she got to say goodbye to him. This reminded her of Artemis, as it had been his idea.

Holly was wiping her eyes when she noticed the glow. She whirled around and saw that Artemis had lifted up and was floating in midair. His eyes radiated their iris colors. One was distributing a wall of brown across his cornea, the other followed suit turning his opposite cornea into blue.

The glowing didn't stop at his eyes, the colors expanded out forming a shield of color around half his body. They met in the center of his body and explosively melted together to form an aura of a blue and brown that world had never seen before and was unlikely to see ever again. Holly shielded her eyes with her forearms from the brightness. It abruptly ended sending Artemis's body toppling on the ground.

Holly cleared her eyes and cautiously walked over to Artemis, trembling. What had that been? Holly knew a good portion of the magic that the People could do, and this was not one of them. As she stepped up to him, Holly felt scared. What would she find?

Artemis's eyes fluttered open. He wasn't aware of anything for several seconds. He didn't know who or what he was. He saw a person leaning over him. This person hit a triggered a cell inside his brain, who? The creature had a brown and blue eye. Running this through his database of knowledge, that was slowly returning, and came up with the name: Holly Short. Holly? Looking into her eyes, he saw fear, sorrow, relief, and something else. Artemis had seen it somewhere else. Where? Something to do with a pixie…

When Holly saw Artemis open his eyes, her eyes widened and she stepped away.

"Artemis." She breathed, not daring to believe it.

Artemis looked up at her, also not quite believing. How did he get back? Very faintly, so faint, that he wasn't sure he had it heard, until he just chose to accept it, Artemis heard a voice say, _do not worry about the "how"; you will figure it out, concentrate on your current situation_. The creature, it had to be him and his doing, somehow. It was good advice though, and Artemis wasn't just going to ignore it.

"Holly," Artemis started, wondering what he should say, "what's going on?"

Holly gave him a look. "What's been going on? You're a fine one to ask that! You tell me, I've been hearing all sorts of things like you stealing plutonium and now I come here to find the Atlantis prison cube has been hit with some kind of explosion? You tell me."

Artemis nodded his head. "Very well, I owe you that much."

Holly snorted. "That and more."

So Artemis told her about the past few days, that after she had left his house, Opal of the Past had revealed herself and blackmailed him to steal a case of plutonium for her or she'd kill Holly. She was understandably doubtful, so Artemis used the computers, which were slowly regaining power, to show her the video clips he'd taken with his button camera. He recounted his tale underground and the theft of the plutonium and his arrest upon delivery to Koboi. About his time spent in the Atlantis cell with the Present Opal and how Past Opal had blown a hole through the cell's wall and taken him hostage only to throw him overboard. Artemis wasn't sure how to proceed with the bit about dying or his strange encounter with that entity or hearing what Holly had said.

Holly seemed to understand this, though he hadn't said anything, and she didn't press him for details. Except when Artemis said that he'd awoken on the shuttle, she blush slightly and asked, "What happened after you woke up?"

Artemis, also a bit pink, decided not to say anything about his encounter at all. "Eh, I just woke up here and saw you and told you what I've been telling you."

"Hmm." Holly didn't look very convinced, but she wasn't going to question his story, unless she was to tell him _all_ of her story. "Do you have a plan?"

If one did not know Artemis Fowl II, then they would have sworn a vampire was grinning at them.

"Of course."

**The magi- workplace of Qwan**

"That's it, my boy," the demon warlock, known as Qwan, urged, "yes just a litt--ARGHH! My foot!!" It was all N°1 could do to not burst out in hysterics as he watched his teacher hop around on one foot while he waited for his magic to heal the bruise on his foot. For the past few days, Qwan had been having N°1 practice the PK section of warlock training.

The swelling on Qwan's foot blossomed with blue sparks and the engorgement deflated. Qwan frowned at his young apprentice. "My boy, you have to learn to concentrate! Mistakes like this can be much more serious out there!" He accompanied this with a nod to door leading out of the lab.

N°1 sighed. "I'm trying, Qwan, I don't know why I can't focus."

Qwan stared at his pupil thoughtfully. "Have you been hanging around with that demoness from Hybras, lately?"

"Yeah, why?" N°1 it was a little odd that Qwan would ask a personal question like that, but when you're dealing with Qwan, you're dealing with the strangest.

A smile had crept across the aged warlock's face. "I think I kno--"

Before Qwan could give what was sure to be an embarrassing lecture on relationships, the door leading into his workplace burst open.

From it, came a fairy and a human their faces shielded by the brightness from the outside. Qwan groaned. A human? That would mean Artemis Fowl the fairy was probably none other than Holly Short. He wasn't disappointed, for, as soon as the dor fell back to its closed position, their voices rang out.

"Hey Qwan." Holly said as she walked into the demon's sanctum and plopped down on a hover-bag.

"Oh no!" Qwan said in mock groan. "What do you want this time? Come to have another under qualified novice do some more highly advanced magic?"

N°1 frowned at Qwan. "I wouldn't say it was _that_ difficult."

Artemis took up the conversation. "I would say 'more highly advanced magic' just about sums it up, wouldn't you Holly?"

The elf nodded. "And we had a question about some very advanced magic."

"Right," Qwan said. "First things first: what's the question?"

Holly looked at Artemis and he looked back at her. "You tell," Artemis said.

Holly sighed. "Okay. Well, Qwan, is it possible for someone, who's dead, to come back to life." Qwan gave the two an incredulous look.

"Coming back from the dead?" he asked. "No, I haven't heard of any type of spell or potion that can do any such thing. We all know the healing charm can repair your body, but you need to be alive for that."

Artemis frowned at the warlock. "Nothing no guesses?"

Qwan looked back at Artemis. "Not at the moment, no. But I'll think of something later. Now what was this about complex magic?"

Giving Qwan an abbreviated version of the day's events, they told them their idea on how to get rid of the Opals.

"Hmm." the sorcerer said thoughtfully. "No promises, but N°1 and I shall try to do that. The closest attempt that anyone has ever done to try this was probably Foaly with his enhanced time-stop. Can you some of those batteries?"

Holly gave Qwan an Artemis-style smile that sent shivers in _Artemis_. "Can do." she replied heading out the sliding door. "Artemis, stay here."

**Mobile command center of Opal Koboi**

The two Kobois were currently stopped in a natural tunnel cave that had not yet been colonized by the People. They were in bad spirits, having discovered that the despiteful human had deceived them by giving the pair a case of fake plutonium. The Opal of the Present had eagerly opened it thinking of the power they could have by blackmailing anyone stupid enough to mess with them. Her heart skipped a beat when she opened it and found the conspicuous lack of glowing plutonium isotopes. Oh, they _looked_ a lot like plutonium, though when Present Opal ran a test on them, she found that these were not plutonium isotopes, but plastic play things.

"Why would you have entrusted a key element, like this, to a human?!" Present Opal screeched at, well, herself. The Past Opal stared daggers back at her future self and complied a reply.

"First off, it wasn't a 'key element' of any kind, second," she said raising another delicately manicured nail, "I had Fowl get the plutonium so I could distract the LEP from your cell so I could free you easier."

The Present Opal was still a bit hissy, though she let the subject drop, as it would be almost impossible to win an argument with yourself. At that moment, Opal got an inspiration for a new world domination plan. Or, more accurately, Opal thought of a place where an _element_ for their current plan could be.

"Hold on, I have an idea." She said.

Past Opal looked up excitement sparkling in her eyes. "Really? What is it?"

Present Opal also adopted a look of evil upon her face. "We know for sure that Fowl stole the plutonium, correct?"

Past Opal nodded, shades of comprehension dawning in the corners of her eyes. "Yes, it was all over the LEN and holo-papers. Why?"

"I think I know where it is."

**Chapter 10**

**Ireland, Dublin **

"I'm sorry, Artemis," Holly said. "overall, this is a decent plan, but how are we going to find Opal?"

Artemis chuckled grimly and replied, "It could be harder than that; remember, we have to find _both_ Kobois not just the one."

They were inside of a cham pod that the People no longer had any use for. Though, this isn't to say that it was an outdated clunker, like most of the LEP supplies, no it was recently titled "unfit for future LEP work" this just meant that Foaly got a budget raise and insisted on upgrading something.

"Whatever."

"I would say," Artemis continued, "that the Opals have discovered that the plutonium I gave them is fake. They know that I did steal plutonium, I'm sure they saw newscasts, I would conclude that if the Present Opal wanted to get some plutonium, then we could catch her by setting a trap."

"Yeah, I get that part; it makes sense," Holly agreed, "but what makes you so sure that Opal is going to turn up here?"

Artemis smiled and said, "We bait her."

**Fowl Manor **

"Are you sure it's here?" Present Opal asked her future self.

Past Opal shot herself a venomous glare. "Of course I'm sure! Are you doubting my genius?"

Present Opal recoiled from herself slightly. "No, I was merely checking that the readings are accurate; also," she snapped, "I would not be able to doubt you as you are me and I would never doubt myself."

_Don't count on it_, Past Opal thought to herself.

"And stop thinking that!!"

Past Opal wasn't sure how her future self knew her thoughts, but decided not to question it.

Sitting around did not suit Holly. She was an elfin captain of the LEPrecon and she craved action like a fish needs water. However, until the Opals showed their faces, there was nothing Holly could do, so she simply monitored the surveillance equipment.

So far, everything in the house was normal. Well, apart from imaginary creatures roaming about. A noise made Holly jump in the security booth's swivel seat. She whirled around checking for the source. It couldn't be could it? Opal couldn't possibly have gotten here already could she? Holly's eyes scanned the room and isolated the sound.

Lying curled up on a desktop, was a cat. Judging from the shattered lamp on the ground, Holly guessed the fluffy white and gray Persian cat had leaped up onto the desk and accidentally sent the decorative lamp flying to the ground. The elf grabbed a sheet of paper and used her hand to brush the glass into a waste basket. When Holly swept a second pile onto the paper, she nicked her hand on a small chink.

"Ow!"

She barely spared it a glance and wondered why there wasn't a broom in here. A small river of blue sparks erupted from her hand and wiped the cut away. _It's a good thing Opal doesn't have her magic anymore_, Holly thought, _otherwise, this could get a lot more complex_.

Hold on…Opal of the Present doesn't have magic, but her younger self would. She could be in here already without anyone knowing it! Holly turned around and looked from side-to-side worriedly and didn't see any sign of the pixie. That didn't mean she wasn't here. Pausing the manor cameras, Holly surveyed the monitors. Ever since his first encounter with fairies, Artemis had had all of the mansion's cameras replaced with a range of high-frequency cameras. The same model, that had been used to expose the LEPretrieval squad preparing to overthrow Fowl Manor.

The monitor's projections froze and Holly viewed them searching for something that shouldn't be there. Or, more accurately, _someone_ who shouldn't be there. A plant swaying in the light breeze from an open window stood in one position, petrified. A fly hung in midair, its wings not moving. What grabbed Holly's interest more was a fairy sneaking up on Artemis and Butler at their station.

"Artemis, Butler," she shouted in their communicators, "watch out! Opal is in there!"

Holly set up one of the other cameras in that room on real time and saw Artemis and Butler placing a hand to an earpiece.

"Where is she exactly?" Artemis asked, looking side from side.

"I'm not sure, hold on."

She re-paused the camera and found Opal behind Butler drawing a Neutrino and aiming it at his back. Very cowardly, considering that she was shielded from sight and attacking from behind. Holly had to warn Butler.

"Butler, move Opal's right behind you!" she shouted to the manservant. He looked at the area around him and grabbed Artemis, shoved him in the room's closet, and turned to face the demented pixie.

"Where are you?" He shouted. "Show yourself or I start shooting!" He drew out his standard Sig Sauer and raised it with one hand, the other fumbling in his pocket for his pair of anti-shield glasses.

"What a pity," came the reply, "I was planning to do the same."

If Opal of the Past was expecting the bodyguard to break down in a cold sweat, she was sadly mistaken. Domovoi Butler was one of Madame Ko's most disciplined graduates and was trained to deal with any situation, orthodox or otherwise. The fact that he had dealt with worse than Opal before also helped.

Of course, confidence in large quantities can also be ignorance. Butler had raised his handgun straight at Opal's chest and stood at a stalemate. He couldn't kill her, under any circumstances, not without creating a major paradox; Opal of the Present was here, so that meant Past Opal must have lived through this. This didn't mean Past Opal wouldn't kill him; indeed, she had already started to raise her weapon him, finger pulling back on the trigger.

Butler tried to think of something he could do to stop the pernicious pixie, but came up with nothing that he could safely do without destroying the space time continuum. Aside from surviving, there was no course of action he could execute. The bodyguard rolled off to one side, thinking that he could, perhaps, injure her and have Holly heal the pixie up later. This was, again, too risky to attempt.

Many say it only takes one mistake to make you regret your actions for the rest of your life, which could have been drastically shortened as a result. This was true here as well. It only took Butler one misstep to trip and strike his head against the corner of a marble table that cracked under the giant's head weight. One misstep that caused him to fall unconscious at precisely the same moment Opal of the Past fired her gun off at the bodyguard. Her aim could be considered _almost_ good, for her shot came within a millimeter of hitting Butler. Though, rather than the surge of pulsing orange hit Butler, it was merely absorbed into the marble table's surface.

To Opal, who was struggling enough with the cumbersome weapon, it looked as though she had downed the man, and she let out a jubilant cry of glee. To Holly, from the surveillance booth, it also looked like Butler had met his end. Unlike Opal, however, she didn't believe Butler was dead. No, he had been presumed dead many times only to spring from the grave fit as a fiddle.

Still, whether the manservant was dead or alive, Holly had to get down there. Abandoning her post, she paused only to grab a modified rifle.

Opal ambled over to the closet she had seen Butler stuff Artemis into, dawdling. Why bother to hurry? She wanted to savor the moment, the thrill of the hunt. Besides, haste makes waste. Maybe she would torture the mudboy a little, first.

"Why bother to hide human," she sneered. "I've already killed your little friend now it's your turn."

Though Artemis was fairly shaking, he thought to himself, _little? Little? That must be the understatement of the year_. Aloud, he said nothing. Artemis checked something on his phone.

Opal was dissatisfied that her prey wasn't snapping her bait. "Oh, don't tell me the great Artemis Fowl is afraid of little old me?"

This time, Opal got an answer, but not one she wanted. Artemis chuckled. "You? Why should I fear you? I've faced you too many times in the Past to be afraid of you." He said, wearing an expression halfway between a smile and a sneer. "Besides, why should I fear you? I happen to have an extra ace up my sleeve."

Opal was sure he was goading her; in a few seconds, she would open the closet doors and incinerate him. Or, torture him. She hadn't decided. "Oh, I'm sure. What's it going to be this time? Another message from a cell phone? Or using a mythological creature to save your sorry skin?"

Artemis smiled again, "Both." He said in response.

"Huh?" Opal answered stupidly.

"Look behind you, if you don't believe me."

Turning around, Opal of the Past saw a fist come down and separate her gun from her hand. Who?

"I don't think you'll be needing that anymore." Holly called out to the precarious pixie. "In fact, where you're going you won't need anything." With that, the LEP captain tackled the pixie to the ground. "You can come out now, Arty."

Artemis felt his heart flutter for a moment, then he controlled himself. There was work to do. Exiting the closet, the boy was captivated by the scene that met his eyes. Two, supposedly nonexistent, creatures on the ground, one handcuffed and tied with its own belt. A giant of nearly seven feet lying (hopefully) unconscious on the ground, next to the horrible marble table.

"Hey, are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to help me?" Holly asked, snapping Artemis out of his trance.

"Of course." he answered, stepping over to Opal of the Past. "When do you want me to start?"

Holly raised an eyebrow at him. "Now would be as good a time as any."

Artemis chuckled. "Very well." He looked Opal straight in the eye, his blue and hazel eyes meeting her mud brown ones.

"_Opal Koboi_," he began, drawing up magic that he rightfully earned. "_are you a member of the pixie family?_"

Opal's eyes glazed over _mesmerized_ from the first syllable, she nodded her head, as her mouth was taped shut by a roll of fairy medical bandages.

"_I command you to forget all about traveling to the Future and Holly Short, Artemis Fowl, augmenting your magic__._" Looking up at Holly, Artemis asked, "I think that about covers it, anything else?"

Holly considered it and answered, "The lemur."

"Ah yes," the Irish youth said, "_And, above all, __forget about getting the __silky sifaka lemur to travel through time. Now, sleep._" Opal complied slumping over, eyes rolling in the back of head. Before going to Fowl Manor, Artemis and Holly made a side trip to an old oak that was at the corner of a river bend. He had used the information he had gathered on his trip to the demon isle of Hybras to charge his magic. Artemis looked up at Holly.

"Do you think it'll work?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure," she replied shaking her head. "No one has ever tried to make a fairy forget something with the _mesmer_; it'd be illegal."

Artemis frowned, taking this in. "Do the block wipe, then, just to be safe."

Holly nodded and pulled a contraption that resembled two mini plungers that she attached to Past Opal's temples.

"Right, how much would you say?" she asked Artemis.

"She's been here about," Artemis screwed up his face in concentration, "four months twelve days thirteen minutes and counting."

Holly was slightly impressed, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, but I would calibrate them about THE AUTHOR NEEDS TO FILL IN months ago as well; that way, she won't have any motive to steal Jayjay in her future."

Holly nodded. "Smart." She remarked knowing she would pay for saying that, give Artemis Fowl comment on intelligence and he'd run with it.

A surprise came the elf's way. Artemis shrugged the compliment and said, "Oh, thank you, Holly."

She scowled slightly as she bent down to set up the mind-wiped equipment. That was most unlike him, or maybe she didn't notice his change towards her. When exactly had it begun? She didn't know. In a few seconds, Holly had the machine set up.

"Okay, it's done; she won't be able to remember any of this."

"Good, let's send her back, then we can deal with the Opal of the Present." Artemis said indicating to the large rifle strapped on Holly's shoulder.

"Okay," Holly said, undoing the rifle from her shoulder. She took careful aim and fired it straight at Opal's head. A beam of red light hit the fairy where she was briefly enveloped in a brilliant flash of blinding red light. With the red light also went Opal Koboi of the Past. She had now gone back to her own timeline where she would fund goblin revolutions, escape mental institutes, and murder Julius Root. It just hit Holly then; she could have convinced Past Opal to not kill her commander!

She turned to Artemis and was about to voice this when she saw he was shaking his head.

"It wouldn't have worked," he said, "you wouldn't have been able to save Julius with creating a paradox. Think: if you undo it now and it never happened _then_, how could you know to have her not do it?"

Holly smiled was slightly grim. "You're right. You knew I would think about it sometime didn't you?"

Artemis bowed his head. "Yes, to be honest I'm surprised you didn't think to save him earlier."

"Maybe I knew that you would reason me not to."

"Maybe. What do you think happened to her after she escaped the prison cell?" Artemis asked.

Holly opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted. The interruption took form of a menacing voice that said, "Why don't you ask her yourself?!"

It was, of course, Opal Koboi of the Present and the one of the Past that they had just sent back. Holly recovered first.

"I would, but the answer is staring me in the face." She said to Opal.

"Oooh hooo! You're a real witty one!" Opal Present mocked. "I had to wait another year to execute my plan! That's another year you stole, Short!"

"Opal," Artemis started, "what do you want now? You must know that we already sent your other self back."

Opal sneered at him "And that's precisely what I want, Fowl, to go back in time." Opal saw a wave of relief cross the Irish's eyes.

He looked up at her and said, "Then, you out of luck, there's no way we can send you back; it took all of Holly's magic just to send the other you back."

Opal saw the truth in Artemis's face and her face went from, cheery calculation to cold and murderous.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a voice that almost wasn't hers; it was very flat and expressionless.

"I mean," Artemis began, "that we used all of Holly's magic to weave a spell and send the other Opal--you--into the Past, where you rightly belonged." He finished.

This was not true; what He and Holly had done was have Qwan and N°1 pump a spell that would be used to send the Past Opal back where she should be into a lithium battery that was usually used in Foaly's time-stops. Artemis thought that if the battery was loaded into a gun of some sort, it could be used to "shoot" Opal into the Past. It had worked perfectly and killed one of the birds, but he wasn't going to use it on the other, not by a long shot. Opal took in what Artemis told her. No way to go back? Opal began to boil and shook with rage that bubbled in her until it was explosion time.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!" she screamed her hands half bent and stretched towards the Heavens. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO MEEEEE! YOU CAN'TTTTTT!!"

Artemis snickered at this and said, "Opal, I've been there before, so has Holly; they won't bother."

Opal rounded on Artemis, "Well," she said breathing deep "I might not be able to go to the Past but who cares I can just go ahead and kill you now." She said this more to herself than to Holly or Artemis. To their horror, Opal drew out a gun, from a case on her back. Not a fairy blaster, but a Thompson submachine gun. Holly and Artemis instantly put their hands up. A Chicago Typewriter will make you do that.

She raised this to the two of them and said, "Which one of you should die first? Perhaps you should die first Short, you had to watch your precious Artemis die a couple times before. Now it can be your turn to suffer. Rather fetching don't you think?"

"No," came a reply, spoken neither by Holly nor Artemis, "this is _way_ more fetching if you ask me." Two throwing knives flitted through the air and nailed Opal to the wall of the room. Stepping from the shadowed doorway was Juliet Butler. "I certainly don't think it would be fun to watch you splatter Artemis or Holly against the walls; I just cleaned them. This sounds more 'fetching' to me."

Stepping up to the pixie, Juliet aimed a jump kick at Opal's face. Her head connected with the wall causing a concussion and shattering the bones in Opal's chin, where Juliet's foot hit.

"Ow." Opal said, before entering a coma that was true and permanent, this time. Her rein of terror over Holly, Artemis, Butler, the fairy people, and mankind was finally over.

"Juliet." Artemis breathed out. "How did you know….?"

She smiled sharply, "That you were in here? That she"-Juliet pointed at Opal-"was the bad guy? Who you are?" she finished nodding towards elfin captain.

"All of the above will do I think," Holly quipped.

Juliet took a breath, and opened her mouth to speak when she heard a rustling coming from the marble table. "Butler?" she asked "is that you?"

"Juliet?" the manservant asked jumping to his feet. "What are you doing here?"

"We were just about to find out," Artemis said "it's good to see you on your feet, Butler; I thought you almost died a second there."

The bodyguard chuckled "No, not yet, though I'm afraid that the DeRoote table is damaged."

"That's all right," Artemis said waving a hand at this, "no one liked it anyway."

The group laughed at this. It wasn't that this was particularly funny; it was more that they were amused by the whole situation. They made an odd group: three humans, one elf, and one pixie, that was crucified to the Manor's wall. The gales subsided and everyone's (minus Koboi's) attention was fixed on Juliet.

"So how did you know?" Holly asked.

In response Juliet shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know, I guess I've always known. I had been getting…flashes ever since you disappeared, Artemis, and Butler—Dom—told us about the fairy stories."

Artemis and Holly looked at Butler before turning back to Juliet.

"Everything he said just seemed to…fit in like, yeah, that's right uh-huh. I wasn't completely sure though; I guess I thought maybe I was taking childhood fairy tales too far. When I looked into the security booth's cameras and saw what was going on I, couldn't deny it any longer and I knew that there was another species of sentient beings. Fairies. My memory is still a bit patchy; I'm not quite sure of everything that's happened."

So, while the group waited for the LEP to arrive, they recounted their travels around the world to Russia, France, Germany, America, the center of the Earth. They told Juliet about the fairy siege, goblin revolutions, the C Cube, time-traveling demons, Artemis's mother almost dying from Opal possessing her. Once or twice, Juliet would cut in and correct them about something.

Eventually, Juliet turned to Holly and said, "Now that we're all reacquainted, are you ever going to get me those video disks?"

The elf wore a look of confusion, but remembered her promise to Juliet aboard the Fowl Leer jet. She laughed at this and said, "Sure, I'll bring them over next week."

It was around here that the LEPretrieval squad had shown up and around now that they had everyone interrogated on stories and alibis and witnesses. Their brashness evaporated when Butler said, "if you're looking for someone to blame, I'm sure you'll find a suitable pixie upstairs."

The LEP took a trip up there and found Opal. The medical warlocks told them that she was in a coma and was unlikely to reawaken again. This wasn't to say that they weren't going to take her seriously, though, especially after all the trouble she caused last time she was thought to be out of it. Oh no, the LEP wasn't taking any chances with her. She was going to be thrown in a state pen surrounded by lasers, where anything so much as a stinkworm were to set foot in there, it would be fried.

Commander Trouble Kelp personally visited Fowl Manor and apologized for Artemis's arrest. Artemis brushed this off saying that he did steal the plutonium in all honesty.

"Honesty." Holly snorted.

"I didn't hear that about the plutonium," Trouble said, turning back to Artemis, "and, I suggest you don't tell me, however, I am going to have a squad, in blackout gear, go in your room and grab it."

Artemis smiled. That almost wraps things up. The Irish boy turned to Holly and said, "Holly, I just want to say thank you for believing me about Koboi, I know I didn't deserve your trust."

She blushed slightly and replied softly, "It's alright Artemis, there's not a person out there that wouldn't have done the same thing." With that, Holly leaned up and kissed his cheek before joining the rest of her team to go underground. The elf started to walk back. Artemis grabbed her arm, turned her around, and passionately kissed her. Though it only lasted a few seconds, the two were lost in their own world.

**Epilogue**

Artemis sat in his study chair a few days later. The whole time paradox business was finally over Opal Koboi could never terrorize anyone again. She'd made her last stand. Artemis was sure that he and Holly were square, if he had not heard her say what she did on the shuttle, he wouldn't have believed it. That was the one piece in the entire equation that didn't make sense. In his experience with math, Artemis knew if you got one part wrong, then the whole problem was spoiled.

Perhaps, this is all happening in his head. Perhaps he is dreaming this entire adventure and Opal has never been caught. Perhaps, right now, he is just a normal boy, lying in a hospital bed, in a coma and when he wakes up, he will find that everything around him was just an illusion. Maybe. Maybe not. The worst thought Artemis had was that he was still in Limbo with that…entity and he was about to go into the afterlife.

This one seemed most likely, as Artemis had never solved how he had gotten to have another chance to live again. He searched through his brain, going over the details of what happened. He came up with nothing. A blue flash caught the corner of his eye's attention. As he whipped his head to the source, however, there was nothing there.

Artemis got up and walked over to the spot the flash appeared on. It was a book from the "I" section of the library. Artemis was certain the flash had been on a book called _In Greek Mythology_. Fascinated by the cover art, gods and otherworldly creatures in various poses, he took it back to his desk.

About half an hour or so into it, Artemis found a particularly interesting passage: _Hera looked into her husband, Zeus's, eyes and looked, wanting to believe him, but saw in his soul's windows that he had been unfaithful to her…_

A light bulb flashed in the Irish boy. _Why didn't think of that before?_ Artemis thought to himself snapping the book closed. The "soul's windows". It was obvious now! Surely Artemis had once before heard people say that the eyes are windows into a person's soul. He and Holly had never thought anything about when they swapped eyes, except that they were now part of each other. What if, what if a piece of their souls were swapped in transit from Limbo to now?

He racked his brain of the whole incident about his death. He recalled that two of Holly's tears had fallen into his eyes and that they had a green look to them. Maybe, Artemis's body died, but Holly was able to somehow use the bit of his soul in her and part of her soul to sort of…recharge him. But how could Holly have done this? _Green tears_. Her love for him brought out the two tears and saved him. Artemis would have to run his theory past her, some more honesty and another story was in order. He twisted a ring on finger over and said, "Hello Holly."

(\/)

(".")  This is supposed to be a bunny. I made it because I was bored.

( ) COPY IT INTO YOUR STORIES IF YOU WANT BUNNY!!


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